In 2002, the City Council of the City of Corpus Christi and executive leadership were plagued with issues related to development in the City of Corpus Christi. With growth at an average rate of 3% as opposed to other jurisdictions in the state whose growth rate was in the 10% range, the issue centered on making development more customer friendly. A “One-Stop Shop” was created and the City began creating a business plan for the newly created department. The department would be composed of Building Permitting and Inspections, Planning, and some aspects of Engineering. The building boom that was occurring throughout the nation was hitting home in Corpus Christi and the need for the One-Stop Shop became a high political priority. In early 2003, over a weekend move, the department staff moved offices to a building one (1) mile from city hall. Offices opened for business the following Monday. The department move was a highly publicized event that was held to high expectations, however, the department quickly became the “Stop Shop”, and developers and the public complained of inefficient policies and practices, poorly trained staff, inconsistent regulations, and inconsistent enforcement of adopted ordinance and regulations.

This case study was submitted to the Alliance for Innovation for consideration at the 2010 Transforming Local Government Conference.